Tony Nomination Spotlight – Groundhog Day

Seven 2017 Tony Award Nominations:

Best Musical, Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical (Andy Karl), Best Score, Best Book of a Musical, Best Direction of a Musical, Best Choreography, Best Scenic Design of a Musical.

A Weatherman in a Time Loop:

In Groundhog Day, a musical adaptation of the 1993 film, a cynical Pittsburgh TV weatherman finds himself caught in a time loop, forced to repeat the same day until he gets it right.

From the producers:

Groundhog Day is the story of Phil Connors, a cynical Pittsburgh TV weatherman who is sent to cover the annual Groundhog Day event in the isolated small town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, when he finds himself caught in a time loop, forced to repeat the same day again and again…and again. As each day plays out exactly the same as before Phil becomes increasingly despondent, but is there a lesson to be learned through his experiences, will he ever unlock the secret and break the cycle?

Stumbling Toward Opening Night:

Groundhog Day is based on the 1993 film starring Bill Murray. The musical’s premiere production began previews at the The Old Vic in London in July 2016, though initial previews were cancelled due to the technical complexities of the show. The production was nominated for 8 Olivier Awards, winning for Best New Musical and Best Actor in a Musical for Andy Karl . The musical officially premiered on Broadway at the August Wilson Theatre on April 17, 2017. The first scheduled preview had to be stopped to technical difficulties with the revolving stage after approximately 15 minutes into the performance. However, the director Matthew Warchus decided that the performance would continue as a concert-style for the rest of act one, with a sing through of 6 songs after intermission using no technical components. The second preview continued as planned. Several weeks later, Andy Karl injured himself onstage during the number “Philanthropy” tearing his anterior cruciate ligament, but he continued the performance with a cane. Despite his injury, Karl returned for the production’s opening night on 17 April, receiving high praise among the reviews.

Andy Karl Interviewed on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert:

Reviews:

Entertainment Weekly: “Wonderfully inventive.. it gooses up the familiar with dazzling energy, creativity, wit, and heart.”

Hollywood Reporter: “[A] delirious reinvention with its own defiantly unique personality, a relentless forward-backward spin that leaves you smiling, exhilarated and giddy…”

New York Times: “Dizzyingly witty…Groundhog Day reimagines [the] film with such fertile and feverish theatrical imagination that you expect to it implode before your eyes.”